Most Popular People With Date of Death in 1989

John MatuszakActor, The GooniesJohn Daniel Tooz Matuszak was an American football defensive lineman in the National Football League and also an actor. Matuszak was born in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. He attended the University of Tampa and played for their football team. Matuszak also played for the Houston Oilers of the NFL and joined the Houston Texans of the World Football League...

2.

Lucille BallActress, The BalletThe woman who will always be remembered as the crazy, accident-prone, lovable Lucy Ricardo was born Lucille Desiree Ball on August 6, 1911 in Jamestown, New York. Her father died before she was four, and her mother worked several jobs, so she and her younger brother were raised by their grandparents...

3.

Laurence OlivierActor, RebeccaLaurence Olivier could speak William Shakespeare's lines as naturally as if he were "actually thinking them", said English playwright Charles Bennett, who met Olivier in 1927. Laurence Kerr Olivier was born in Dorking, Surrey, England, to Agnes Louise (Crookenden) and Gerard Kerr Olivier, a High Anglican priest. His surname came from a great-great-grandfather who was of French Huguenot origin...

4.

Bette DavisActress, All About EveRuth Elizabeth Davis was born April 5, 1908, in Lowell, Massachusetts, to Ruth Augusta (Favor) and Harlow Morrell Davis, a patent attorney. Her parents divorced when she was 10. She and her sister were raised by their mother. Her early interest was dance. To Bette, dancers led a glamorous life, but then she discovered the stage...

5.

Jim BackusActor, Rebel Without a CauseJim Backus was born James Gilmore Backus on February 25, 1913 in Cleveland, Ohio. He was one of the few actors to do it all: radio, Broadway, movies, television and cartoons. After attending preparatory school in his hometown Cleveland, Backus enrolled at the American Academy of Dramatic Art, to ply his trade...

6.

Gilda RadnerActress, Haunted HoneymoonGilda Radner was one of the great comic geniuses of the 20th century, ranked up with Lucille Ball and other comedy legends of the highest caliber. She was born on June 28, 1946, in Detroit, Michigan, the younger of two children of Henrietta (Dworkin), a legal secretary, and Herman Radner, a businessman...

7.

Lee Van CleefActor, The Good, the Bad and the UglyOne of the great movie villains, Clarence Leroy Van Cleef, Jr. was born in Somerville, New Jersey, to Marion Lavinia (Van Fleet) and Clarence LeRoy Van Cleef, Sr. His parents were both of Dutch ancestry. Van Cleef started out as an accountant. He served in the U.S. Navy aboard minesweepers and subchasers during World War II...

Guy WilliamsActor, Captain SindbadAn exceptionally handsome and charismatic performer with a sexy baritone voice, Guy Williams was born Armand Joseph Catalano (nicknamed "Armando" by his family) of Italian parentage in New York City on January 14, 1924. The elder child of an insurance broker (he had a younger sister, Valerie), he was raised in the Washington Heights area...

12.

Amanda BlakeActress, A Star Is BornAmanda Blake was born in Buffalo, NY, of English and Scottish descent. She and her parents moved to Claremont, California, while Amanda was still in high school, and she graduated from Claremont High. She enrolled at Pomona College but, due to her avid participation in community and theater productions...

Graham ChapmanWriter, Monty Python and the Holy GrailGraham Chapman was born on January 8, 1941 in Leicester, England while a Germain air raid was in progress. Graham's father was a chief police inspector and probably inspired the constables Graham often portrayed later in comedy sketches. Graham studied medicine in college and earned an M.D., but he practiced medicine for only a few years...

15.

Frances BavierActress, The Day the Earth Stood StillFrances Bavier was born in New York City on December 14, 1902. Her first Broadway appearance was in April 1925 in "The Poor Nut", the start of a successful Broadway career. She traveled with the USO to entertain the U.S. troops in the Pacific during World War II. Her last appearance on Broadway was in the 1951 play, "Point of No Return" starring Henry Fonda. It ran for 356 performances...

Mel BlancActor, The Bugs Bunny/Looney Tunes Comedy HourVoice specialist from radio, movies and TV rarely seen by his widespread audience. On 1940s radio, for example, his voice supplied the sound effects for the comedian Jack Benny's antique "Maxwell" automobile's gasping and wheezing and struggling to crank up. More widely recognised as the voice of virtually every major character in the Warner Bros...

18.

Robert WebberActor, 12 Angry MenOver his 40-year career as one of Hollywood's veteran character actors, Robert Webber always marked his spot by playing all types of roles and was not stereotyped into playing just one kind of character. Sometimes he even got to play a leading role (see Hysteria). Webber first started out in...

19.

Franklin J. SchaffnerDirector, Planet of the ApesFranklin J. Schaffner was one of the most innovative creative minds in the early days of American network television, utilizing a moving camera in the days when most television directors kept the camera static. His eye for visuals was developed in the dozens of live television programs he directed on prestigious shows such as Studio One in Hollywood and Playhouse 90...

20.

Cornel WildeActor, The Naked PreyDashing actor Cornel Wilde was born Kornel Lajos Weisz on October 13, 1912, in Prievidza, Hungary (now part of Slovakia), to a Jewish family. He immigrated with his parents and elder sister Edith to New York City in 1920. His family Americanized their names and Kornel took the name Cornelius Louis Wilde...

21.

Valérie QuennessenActress, Conan the BarbarianValerie Quennessen became an actress almost by accident. She started out performing as a child as an acrobat. She was very accomplished in this field and won an award at the age of ten. However, she hadn't seriously considered performing for a living. In her late teens, she enrolled in acting classes as therapy...

Paul ShenarActor, ScarfaceAttractive, dark-featured character actor with a voice like thunder, and eyes like a wolf, who was featured in less than sympathetic roles throughout his career. Born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Albert Paul Shenar attended the University of Wisconsin. Soon after graduation, he relocated to New York City...

Ben WrightActor, The Sound of MusicBen Wright was born May 15, 1915, to an English mother and an American father in London, England, UK. At 16, he entered the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts where classmates included such future stars as Ida Lupino. Upon graduating, he acted in several West End stage productions. When WWII broke out...

26.

Jack StarrettActor, First BloodJack Starrett was a superbly talented and versatile actor and director who specialized in making hugely enjoyable down'n'dirty low-budget drive-in exploitation pictures. Starrett was born on November 2nd, 1936 in Refugio, Texas. He attended San Marcos Academy in the 40s and the 50s. He made his acting debut as "Coach Jennings" in Like Father, Like Son...

27.

Norma VardenActress, The Sound of MusicThe daughter of a retired sea captain and his much-younger wife, actress Norma Varden was born and raised in turn-of-the-century London. A piano prodigy, she studied in Paris and appeared in concert in England during her teenage years. Acting, however, became her career of choice, studying at the Guildhall School of Music...

28.

Anthony QuayleActor, Lawrence of ArabiaAnthony Quayle was born in Ainsdale in September 1913, the son of a Lancashire lawyer. He completed his education at Rugby School and had a brief spell at RADA, before treading the boards for the first time as the straight man in a music hall comedy act in 1931. Tall, burly, round-faced and possessed of a powerful and resonant voice...

29.

Kenneth McMillanActor, AmadeusCharacter actor Kenneth McMillan was born on July 2, 1932 in Brooklyn, New York. Prior to becoming an actor, McMillan was a manager at Gimbels Department Store. At age 30, McMillan decided to pursue an acting career. He attended the LaGuardia High School for Performing Arts and took acting lessons from Uta Hagen and Irene Dailey...

30.

Joe SpinellActor, RockyJoseph J. Spagnuolo was born on October 28, 1936 in Manhattan, New York City at his family's apartment on 2nd Avenue. Spinell was a tough guy on and off screen all his life. During his teen years, while still in high school, he acted in various plays on the New York stage, on and off Broadway, eventually earning a place in Joe Papp's Shakespeare Festival Theater...

31.

Robert J. WilkeActor, Days of HeavenProlific American character actor of primarily villainous roles. The son of German parents, Cincinnati feed-store manager August Wilke and his wife Rose, Robert Joseph Wilke grew up in Cincinnati. He worked as a lifeguard at a Miami, Florida, hotel, where he made contacts in the film business. He was able to obtain work as a stuntman and continued as such until the mid-'40s...

32.

Maurice EvansActor, Planet of the ApesA grand, robust, highly theatrical British classical actor, Maurice Evans was the son of a justice of the peace who enjoyed amateur playwriting on the side. In fact, his father adapted several adaptations of Thomas Hardy's novels and Evans would often appear in them. Early interest also came in London choirs as a boy tenor...

Jeff RichardsActor, Seven Brides for Seven BrothersJeff Richards, born Richard Mansfield Taylor in Portland, Oregon, was a graduate of Lincoln High School in Tacoma, Washington. Upon graduation he was ready to embark on a career in professional baseball when he entered the Navy in June of 1943. During World War II, he served as a radio technician until his discharge in 1946...

36.

Harry AndrewsActor, Battle of BritainBritish character actor Harry Andrews had the sort of massive granite face and square jaw that would stamp that career, but he set himself apart with brilliant stage and screen work. He had graduated from Wrekin College in Shropshire and then moved on to the stage, appearing with Liverpool Repertory in 1933 and focusing on Shakespearean roles...

Salvador DalíWriter, Un Chien AndalouSurrealist-turned-catholic painter Dalí worked on various movies as well. While a member of the French surrealist group, he co-wrote Un Chien Andalou and L'Age d'Or with Luis Buñuel. The latter may have marked the beginning of a long-lasting quarrel with the surrealists when Dalí did not agree on Buñuel's anti-clericalism...

39.

Rebecca SchaefferActress, One Life to LiveRebecca began modeling at the age of 16, going off to New York on her own to begin her career. Four months later, she found herself in Japan, modeling there. Eventually, she landed her role on My Sister Sam, for which she is best known. In 1989, she became a spokesperson for Thursday's Child, a charity for at-risk teens...

40.

Jean WillesActress, Invasion of the Body SnatchersJean Willes is best known for her roles in a number of B movies in the 1950s and 1960s as well as on the small screen. Lovely and curvaceous, she often played hard-boiled gold-diggers, party girls, gun molls, and saloon girls. She came off as a wily, smarter version of Barbara Nichols or Iris Adrian...

41.

Michael CarmineActor, *batteries not includedCarmine's stage credits included productions at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and The Henry Street Settlement and La Mama ETC theaters, but he was best known for his work in Reinaldo Povad's "La Puta" and "Cuba and His Teddy Bear," the last successful New York Shakespeare Festival production whose cast included Robert Deniro and Ralph Macchio...

Trey WilsonActor, Raising ArizonaHouston-born character actor Trey Wilson was at his best playing rural, authoritarian type roles, usually in comedic productions. He was really starting to hit his straps in feature films when he unfortunately succumbed to a cerebral hemorrhage only days from his 41st birthday. Probably best remembered as fast talking...

Ray McAnallyActor, The MissionAlthough Irish character actor Ray McAnally would become one of his country's most revered stage actors, he will be forever remembered by audiences both here and abroad for a couple of films he made during the last years of his life. Born in the seaside town of Buncrana and the son of a bank manager...

Yûsaku MatsudaActor, Black RainYusaku was born in Yamaguchi, Japan. In 1966 he visited his aunt in the USA, where he lived for 1 year. Coming back to Japan, he started acting at a theatrical company. Since making his debut as a film actor in 1973, he appeared on various TV series and movies until his death.

50.

Mary TreenActress, It's a Wonderful LifeAbout as reliable as one could ever find, character actress Mary Treen was a familiar face to most and could always be counted on to bring a bit of levity to any film scene. A minor actress for much of her career, she managed to secure a plain, unassuming niche for herself in 40s, 50s and 60s Hollywood...